The Stories of Three
by Sorugao-BandGeek
Summary: What is it that made the Sannin them? What could have possibly been the result for the three of the strongest shinobi to end up so insane, so foolish, and so home wrecked?
1. The Tale of the Snake

**I don't own Naruto or the song used. **

* * *

><p><em>Destiny's Path<em>

John Williams

**Memoirs of a Geisha**

**iiii.**

He vaguely remembered his father, but he knew that the man had loved him. He remembered his mother, his beautiful mother. She was such a fragile looking creature, until it was time to switch roles. And when he caught her once switching from her sweet, kind mother role, to the role of a cold hearted, blood thirsty kuniochi – he was completely fascinated.

They had been traveling away from a small village that his mother had settled into when she had been pregnant with him. It was around the time that he was three that his father appeared again and his mother couldn't have been happier. Then it was just the three of them, though one day he had overheard his parents saying it wouldn't be just three anymore. It was then he noticed that his mother's stomach had begun to grow bigger, and he was astounded. His small, pale hands would always reach up to touch the underside of his mothers stomach, before sliding up to the middle were her belly button where something would always kick at his small hand.

_'Its your sibling saying hi, Chi-chan.' _his mother would always say as she placed her warm, tanned hand over his. His father would just chuckle, kiss his mother on the cheek and mess with his dark hair. But he wouldn't mind, because it was a gesture that his father cared.

He couldn't be happier.

But when he got home from a training session that his mother had him do, he was shocked to find his father face down in a puddle of his blood. His mother had screamed as she tried her best to run to her husbands side and crouch down to hug his prone form. It twisted him, when he saw his mother crying, and it hurt him even more that his father was _gone_.

It slowly dawned on him, how fragile human life was.

So he tugged on his mothers sleeve, he pulled her away from his fathers dead body and he hugged her. He hugged his little sibling to, that was still safe in his mothers stomach. And he prayed to whoever heard him, that they protect them, that whoever did this to be shown no mercy.

But this is a ninja world.

Mercy was the last thing that anybody saw.

_'We are leaving, Orochimaru.'_

He was five, his little brother was almost two and his mother had gotten the body and sorted out her skills as a kuniochi once more. She had taught him her clans style, the ways of the serpent. She called him her little genius, that he was just like her grandfather. And once she knew that he could be able to both protect himself and his little brother, they packed their things, burned down their home, and left with only ashes in their wake.

And they were traveling on the road. It was peaceful, almost calm, that was until bandits attacked them .His mother had dealt with them, but one had sneaked around her and gotten to where her two sons were hiding. Orochimaru tried his best to fight off the big bandit, but this one turned out to be a shinobi. The man had managed to wound the young boy and had grasped his little brother. The man chuckled as he kicked away Orochimaru, threatening to kill the little boy if either he or his mother made a move.

Of course his mother wouldn't let such a thing happen, like her ways, she tricked the man. Though he had managed to injure her son, for that she killed him instead of letting him flee with his tail between his legs.

The man had cut into the boys throat, causing the child to begin to choke on his blood and unable to breath. His mother tried her best to heal him, but it wasn't her specialty, she only managed to spare him more time to live. Enough time for him to call to her and Orochimaru, before the light in his eyes faded and he was just staring blankly above them. Orochimaru gripped at his brothers hand and shook his shoulders, telling him to stop playing. Tears ran down the pale boys face as his brother didn't answer him back or look at him.

_'Yaso!' _

His mother pulled him away, she hugged him as Orochimaru cried into her vest. She cooed at the crying boy, rubbing his back trying to get him to calm down. While her own tears silently fell for her lost son.

_'Why Yaso? Why!' _

Human life could so easily be taken away, it was always on the line, never sure if the life would be taken away today, or if it'll live another day.

They appeared at the gates Konoha, the symbol over the large gates, was the same one that was on the plated gloves his mother wore and the head band she had around her thigh. The men at the gate asked her for her papers and she withdrew both hers and his and showed it to them, along with a piece of paper that the Sandaime had granted her permission to leave and wonder the lands.

They let them through and led them to the Hokage Tower.

Orochimaru showed no interest in looking around the bustling village. His eyes were glued to the floor, he never noticed how a white haired boy his own age stayed staring at him, before he glanced away and returned to doing what he was doing before.

Everything was blur after they entered the village and it wasn't until they were situated in his mothers old apartment that he let himself crash on the small futon that was laid out in the guest room and sleep. Only his sleep was unwelcomed, he was bothered with the visions of seeing his brother dying, along with his father who lay face down in a puddle of his own blood.

He was able to overcome it quickly though, with his mothers help and support. They lived a somewhat alright life after they came to the village, he soon started the academy while his mother decided to start taking up missions again.

It went well for the next couple years. He graduated from the academy top of his class and was placed on a team with the blond haired girl from the Senju clan and the stupid idiot Jiraiya.

The years seemed to go by, he and his team grew strong. While his mother seemed to grow older and weaker. He hated coming home to her, seeing her so weak and withered, but he couldn't leave her. He loved her too much to abandon her, they had been through too much.

So when he woke up one morning and went to help his mother with breakfast, he was surprised to not find her away and shuffling about the small kitchen. His brow furrowed, he went to her room and announced himself. When she didn't answer back, he opened her door, and his breath caught in his throat.

She looked so peaceful as if she was just sleeping. But she wasn't, he could tell. He walked to her side, knelt beside her, and took her hand that was over her body. It was cold and it felt aged and gnarled in his hand. He could feel something build itself in his throat, but he wouldn't let it out.

At least she had gone peacefully.

But it struck him, much harder this time, how anything could so simply end a human life.

Be it an outside source, a knife, even age.

And he let her hand fall and looked at his own hands. They seemed young, but soon they would be like his mothers were. The skin would be spotted by scars, small little dots and withered looking.

He didn't want that.

He owed it to his mother to live a long life.

He owed it to his little brother.

To his father.

To himself.

He would find a way, so that human life wouldn't have to end. Ever.

"Immortality, your equation will be solved."

What started out as a way to help others and himself, turned him into an obsessed freak. People couldn't see his way anymore, they thought he had gone insane. But no he hadn't. Sure maybe his ideals in finding immortality was sick, but he owed it to his family. He owed it to them.

Maybe it was for the best that he had been chased out of Konoha. They didn't understand, they just lived on and died. They could keep doing that if they wanted. He would always be an outsider, he was born one and if it so happened, he would end like one.

**Iiiiii.**

"Orochimaru, are you listening?"

The voice of the young Uchiha snapped Orochimaru from his thoughts. He sighed and turned to look at the fourteen year old boy. His yellow snake like eyes examined the young boy.

"What is it that you want now boy?"

If the Uchiha wasn't taken back by how he was spoken to he didn't show it. The boy just scoffed and turned away.

"Nevermind."

Orochimaru raised an eyebrow, before he sneered at the backside of the boy. What an insufferable little boy he was. His parents had coddled the thing and so had his dear older brother. To think that he was a genius, please, the boy was an idiot. The only way he could take down his older brother was if he trained for decades and waited until the man was sick with old age.

That caused a pang of guilt to go through him.

Oh well.

He'd get over it.

But not in this lifetime.

So Orochimaru closed his eyes and his sleep took him back to when he was a toddler, within the loving embrace of his mother.

He wasn't crazy, he wasn't insane, he just wished he was happy.

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><p><strong>AN:<strong>

There'll be another two going with this one and it'll be complete.

I actually see this happening to Orochimaru and because of that I like and can understand his character - even if this is an assumption that I am making. It's one of the few explanations that can be said for the way Orochimaru is, no? If it isn't, well meh, its an idea. Hopefully you guys like this and the next two.

Review? Please?

_Sorugao-Bandgeek_


	2. The Tale of the Toad

_Confluence_

John Williams

**Memoirs of a Geisha**

.**iii**.

When Jiraiya was born, his mother wept. Her violet eyes filled with tears and she couldn't help but feel sorrow as she held her son. But she smiled, because in her heart, no matter how sad it felt as she looked at the child, she felt her heart skip a beat in happiness. This was _her _son, not his. Her own flesh and blood. The white haired woman leaned forward and placed a kiss on the crown of the newborns head, to which he cooed at and his small hands reached out for the woman, grasping her braided white hair.

She pursed her lips, her way of smiling, and she gently tugged her hair out of his hand.

"Jiraiya," she remembered the folk tales that where spoken by her mother and her grandmother. The tale of the gallant Jiraiya was always her favorite. And now that she thought about it, she was sure the name would suit her son. "You are my son," she whispered to him as she held him close to her. "_My _beautiful son."

Tomoe, Jiraiya's mother, couldn't have been any less pleased when her son, of only three years of age, began to show interest in her art. She was pleased when she found him in her dojo, holding her weapons and looking at them in interest.

"Do you wish to learn, Jiraiya? Do you wish to learn my way?" she had asked him, to which he smiled and nodded. Responding with a huge amount of enthusiasm.

And it was since his fourth year that he began to truly grow under his mothers tutelage. Tomoe taught Jiraiya the ways of a spy, of an assassin, and showed him how to use her favorite weapon: the bow and arrow. Of course he preferred much more the hand to hand and the use of a short sword, but she had told him that the bow and arrow was the weapon of their ancestors. Their way.

And the white haired boy understood. His onyx eyes always took on a gleam of seriousness when he held the bow and arrow. And Jiraiya, he couldn't help but think how weird it was at how natural it was holding the weapon. It was almost like breathing.

The young boy seemed to have been a genius and he would have kept showing his trueself, if it hadn't been for that horrid accident. Just a couple months before he entered Konoha's Academy, his mother had been dealt with. And he could remember very well how the enemy that had done her in, slowly crept towards him. The seven year old boy wanted to cry out, to plead for his life, but it wasn't his way. It wasn't what his mother taught him.

Instead he took his stance and prepared himself. When the enemy had seen what the boy was doing, he let out a bark of a laugh, and that was what had done the _enemy _in. Jiraiya had taken advantage of the man's lapse. As he had come in from practicing his aim, Jiraiya prepped an arrow before letting it slip from his fingers and struck the man in the throat. The man sputtered and doubled over, grasping at his neck.

The white haired boy didn't waste a second and jumped at the man, pulling the short sword he had strapped to his back and lopping off the mans head.

After finally seeing what he had done, Jiraiya trembled. His sword fell from his hand and his feet tiptoed through the blood of the man he had killed.

"_No_," he cried, as he ran away from the man and to his mothers side. Where he laid himself on her torso and cried into her chest. "Mama! Please, please, please, Mama, no!" he screamed, tears falling down his face as he shook violently.

He'd killed a man. He killed someone who murdered his mother.

"_Why!" _

Frightened, lonely, covered in blood, and truly broken, Jiraiya bolted from his home. Before he could reach the streets thought, he had run into a man. He looked familiar, but Jiraiya couldn't place a name, the only thing he could do was cling to the man's leg.

"Young one, what is wrong?"

"T-they killed M-a-ama," was all Jiraiya managed to say before he completely broke down.

The brown haired man's eyes widened and he bent down and picked up the seven year old. He calmed the child down by rubbing his back and letting his slightly known hand in medical jutsu calm the boy down. With that the man followed the trail the boy had left behind and he came upon a small home. The man could smell the blood in the air and he seemed to freeze. But he continued on and as he walked in he saw the corpse of what he guessed to be the murderer and the boys mother.

The man's eyes furrowed in anger. An enemy nin, in his village! And they had killed off one of his people. Sarutobi set the boy down for just a second and flared his chakra. Two anbu appeared at the doorway, kneeling before the man.

"I want this investigated and reported to me once you've found all you can. After your done with that, pack up any of this boys belongings and send them to my home."

The two anbu nodded at their leaders words, who turned to face the sleeping child and picked him up. Sarutobi shushined to his home, where his wife seemed to patiently be waiting for him in one of the private rooms.

"Hiruzen!" she gasped as she saw him with a white haired child, "What happened?"

"His mother has been killed and it seems he managed to kill the nin who had done the act."

And that was all that had to be said between the couple, who looked after the child for a week, before he was sent off to the orphanage.

It was sad to say, that Jiraiya wouldn't remember what Sarutobi had done for him. Nor would he know that the ninja he had killed had been his own father.

And the boy that had seriously been taking things into his hand, had changed. He became a fool. He had taken a new face and people took it in stride.

His teammates, when the time came for them knew better. Sarutobi had told them and sworn them to secrecy not to say anything to Jiraiya. It was a wonder why Orochimaru seemed to be the one who understood the best – but it didn't mean that the white haired boy liked him any better.

And they grew up, each going their separate ways. Orochimaru a traitor, Tsunade a lost and hopeless drunk. And he, Jiraiya, had dropped the mask of the fool that he played and had let himself for once be himself.

As Minato walked beside him, Jiraiya couldn't help but think that this was right. The two approached a small home that was a ways away from the village.

"Kid, I'd like to introduce you to my mother," spoke up the Sannin. His blond apprentice eyes widened and he turned to look at his teacher. Minato's eyes softened and he turned to look at the grave. He gave a bow, before kneeling and placing a flower he had picked along the way on her grave.

"You should be proud of Jiraiya-sensei, Tomoe-san," was all Minato had said, before the white haired man gave the boy a noogie.

"Now how about I teach you something new, hm?" questioned Jiraiya as he led them away from the grave and towards the house. "I bet you'll enjoy this."

The two stepped into the dusty home and Jiraiya disappeared down a hallway. Though he quickly returned, an unusual smile on his mouth. In his hand Jiraiya held a bow and arrow.

"How would you like to learn this?"

**Iii**

Naruto stared up at Jiraiya. The blond opened his mouth to say something, but the look on his sensei's face stopped him. Instead the blond closed his mouth and just waited patiently for the man to snap out of his thoughts.

Azure eyes closed and he began to meditate, something the pervert had been nagging him to do since they started their training trip.

"Hey kid,"

Naruto opened his eyes and looked up at Jiraiya.

"How'd you like to learn something new?"

"Like what?" asked Naruto his eyes filling with excitement. Something fell into his lap and when Naruto looked, it was a satchel that seemed packed with arrows. "What's this for?"

"Your new training weapon, kid."

Jiraiya couldn't help but chuckle at Naruto's expression.

"Come on, it was something my old lady taught me! I was hoping you'd like to learn something completely different, but it seems you don't want too," pouted Jiraiya as he turned away, wiping away a few mock tears.

"Your old lady?"

Jiraiya looked over his shoulder and onyx met with azure. Jiraiya gave the blond a smile.

"Yeah, my old lady. This was her families way and she passed it down to me. Since I don't have a family of my own, I thought why not teach this runt?"

Naruto smiled.

"I'm in!"

Because with Jiraiya saying that, it meant that the pervert saw he, himself, as family.

"But do know, that you'll also be taking other training along with this. Understood?"

"Yes, sir!"

And just like his father, the blond boy took to Jiraiya's way and even preferred it more often than not. Which was why, when Jiraiya had come to pass, Naruto took it upon himself, not only to live by his sensei's rules, but to pass on Jiraiya's secret skills to those he judged worthy. Just like Jiraiya had judged him and his father of knowing the_ true _way of a ninja.

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><p><strong>AN:<strong>

****Aya! I lost it near the end, but hm.

_Tomoe_, the name I gave Jiraiya's mother comes from the Japanese Folktale of Tomoe Gozen, the concubine of this one man, but she also happened to be a hell of a warrior. She was a strong archer and as you can see I made that a huge trait. What I wanted the bow and arrow to signify, that albeit the two weapons are completely useless and different from each other, but once used together they worked. I see this as the way of Jiraiya's mothers family and yeah I know its not good enough. heh.

I picture Jiraiya's mother being one of those old fashioned ninja, she followed the tradition her family had set and passed it down to her son, who passed it down to his apprentices. Her families tradition was of course the way of a spy, a true assassin, and an archer, there are other things included, but I didn't want to write them in.

So uh, heh, yeah.

Hope you guys enjoyed!

Thanks to those who reviewed! _Reishin Amara, LazyRamenNinja, _and _Sasunaru. _

__Enjoy!

**Sorugao-Bandgeek**


	3. The Tale of the Slug

_The garden meeting_

John Williams

**Memoirs of a Geisha**

**.ii.**

"What a beautiful girl," murmured Hashirama as he picked up his week old granddaughter. His wife, Mito, stood beside him and gave her husband a coy smirk.

"As beautiful as her mother and grandmother, I would say," spoke the Uzumaki woman, "Give her here dear, you've spent enough time with her."

"Have you decided on a name?" questioned Hashirama to his eldest daughter as he handed the young babe to his wife, who quickly began cooing at the young child.

"Tsunade," murmured the blond haired woman, who lay in bed, looking ill.

"A strong name, I would say," spoke up Mito as she brushed a stray strand of her off of the babe's head. Before she handed her back to her mother. "I wish I could stay longer, but it seems I have some matters to settle. Take care, dear, we'll be coming back around later," waved Mito as she placed a kiss on her daughters cheek and a caring hand on her granddaughters head.

Some would say that the girl, Tsunade was a lucky one. She was basically born into royalty, what with her grandfather _and _granduncle both having been (are) Hokage, another was that her grandmother was _the _Uzumaki Mito. One of the elemental countries most feared kuniochi's. And it was at the tender age of three, that Tsunade choose her path.

_'To be just like nana!'_

And she followed in her footsteps. At the age of six she had graduated from the exam, and who would have known that along her way as genin she would come under tutelage of yet _another _Hokage and be paired along with a so called genius – who to Tsunade was just a young quiet boy on the shy side – and an idiot – who seemed to be everything that her genius of a teammate wasn't.

Everything seemed to be going well for the young Senju, what with her younger brother finally starting the academy and the such. And when he graduated, he was such a happy and proud boy. As a gift for finally becoming a ninja, she had bestowed upon the necklace her grandfather had given her. And with quick kiss on the forehead, she sent him off to meet his teammates and sensei.

It wasn't until the next day her brother was sent out on a mission, she'd adviced on him not going, what with the ominous clouds appearing over her, but he didn't listen and his sensei had promised to watch over him.

It was for not.

The boy had foolishly set off a trap and it had consumed him and left him barely recognizable when his body was brought in. Orochimaru couldn't offer any words, instead he returned her prized necklace and left with only an apology. It was then, that Tsunade began to lose herself. But she hid it well.

Then her mother passed away, but that was of natural causes right? It wasn't because someone had slipped poison into the aged woman's tea. But Tsunade knew better, and she continued to hold her head high.

Then followed suit her grandfather and granduncle. And then Nana Mito, who had passed away after she had called for one of her own clansmen to come to Konoha. The young red haired girl was only here a week and she found her grandmother in her bed, looking as peaceful as ever, but gone forever.

Now all she had were her teammates and her mentor, and the little rhombus seal on her forehead that connected her with her deceased grandmother.

It was in a meeting, one she called fate after a couple months, where she met her love, Dan. They had fallen for one another and Tsunade couldn't help but fight back the tears. He reminded her so much of her deceased family, what with his loving and caring nature and his dream to be Hokage. And she let herself believe one more time, she had given her his necklace and a kiss on the forehead, showing that she believed in him.

Months later, she couldn't save him from his mortal wounds. He had left this world with compassion and love in his eyes, but he had failed to utter the words she had wanted to hear. And with that her life spiraled out of her grasp, she couldn't see for herself, but most would find her in the gambling halls of Konoha, or in one of the bars of the red light district.

She didn't have the nerve to leave her home, but when her teammate. The one she managed to not kill for letting her baby brother die left without a trace, the quietest of killers on his tail. And her nerve broke, she asked to leave, and her wish was granted.

What both her and Orochimaru couldn't see was that they left behind someone. Someone they all would have called an idiot, a fool. They didn't notice his mask breaking, nor his heart.

And it was like that, that the three sannin split paths.

Tsunade heartbroken couldn't face reality and lived in a world where everything seemed smudged and unreal. It was in this drunk and high stupor that she would always meet those she truly cherished, and it was when that haze faded away that she always broke down, worse than before.

This was why she hated losing – losing as in, people's lives. This was why she detested winning, because winning brought on karma. A karma that always struck close to home.

Tsunade sneered as she looked at the jade piece in her hand. This stupid thing she had won, this stupid thing that her grandfather had given her, had been cursed the moment it touched her hand. Her hand held the small jewel in a fist and was intent on crushing it, but she couldn't. So her hand fell away and the jewel fell limp between her breasts, where it glistened and seemed to taunt the slug sannin.

"Shizune, we're leaving."

And it was true.

The two left and were not found, unless they wanted to be.

And it was true, up to a certain point.

**.ii.**

"Tsunade-sama? Are you alright?" asked the pink haired girl as she held a tray filled with snacks and tea.

The blond woman blinked, before waving her hand to the pink haired girl. The girl smiled and set the tray down. The kuniochi began with her usual morning routine, that is, have tea and a snack with Tsunade, where they will usually go over what Sakura had learned the day before and what she could do to make things much more precise and perfect.

"Tsunade-sama, are you sure you're alright?" asked Sakura as she finished her tea and set her cup down. She hadn't seen her teacher so out of it in awhile and she remembered clearly what had happened the last time someone who wasn't especially close tried to snap the tempered Hokage out of her reverie.

"Fine, I'm fine, just thinking," murmured the woman, who held the cup to her lips as she read the paperwork on her desk. "Hm, Sakura, how do you think that knucklehead teammate of yours is doing?"

"Ah? Naruto?" uttered the pink haired girl in surprise, but smiled soon afterwards, "Knowing him he's probably doing his best."

Tsunade hummed at the answer her student had given her. Hazel eyes turned to actually look at the pink haired girl and it scared Tsunade how well she could see herself in this young girl. The Godaime Hokage smirked, perhaps that was another reason she took on the girl? To settle the ghosts in her past and have history not repeat itself?

"Come Sakura."

Yes that may have been a reason in the beginning, but now, not so much. And Tsunade couldn't help but suppress a chuckle. The main reason may have been to satisfy a certain blond knucklehead and to outdo both her fellow sannin.

"Its time you've learned to summon Katsuya."

The shocked look on the pink haired girls face made Tsunade outright laugh. She showed the girl the way to properly do a summon, by having her sign the contract and from there she left Sakura to her own devices.

And as she looked over the girl, Tsunade couldn't help but agree. Orochimaru may have taken on a student just to show off the power of the Uchiha, Jiraiya had taken on Naruto to honor his father and fulfill his godfather duties that he had failed to do, and also because the old pervert had seen something else in the brat.

Tsunade, she had taken on a student for who knows why. To help the girl, because of pity? Because she saw herself in her? Or was it because of something totally different. Again that had been something she had pondered in the beginning, she knew better now.

She knew much better.

_'Always take the losing bet.'_

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><p><strong>AN:<strong>

And let me tell you how difficult it is to come up with an idea for Tsunade! Its difficult! And I'm pretty sure I messed up the flow of it and went in another direction half way while writing it D; Damn you Tsunade! You're such a woman! DIFFICULT AND HARSH AND COLD x( but meh, I tinkered with her and had fun though.

Well this basically wraps up this trio of shots. Hopefully you all enjoyed it :) And if you really, really enjoyed it, why not leave word of it? :D

Happy Holidays/Break everyone!

_Sorugao-Bandgeek_


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